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Episode 25.5: Interlude

Well, technology had its way with us again. Did you know Mercury is in retrograde? More than likely, it’s all a bunch of bologna, but it’s fun to pretend that this latest technological FAIL is tied to the Universe in some way. Long story short, we recorded last Friday (the 25th) but it appears the memory card we used is corrupt and the file won’t transfer to the laptop. We planned to record for a second time on Sunday, but then Stacie’s youngest got a bad stomach bug. So here we are, a weekend without a new episode.

To make up for it a bit, we decided to BLOG about the lost episode instead. Here we go… And as usual

Welcome back to The Stash!

After a good knitting session at a baseball practice, where she realized she can in fact knit something slightly complicated while still cheering her son on, and some time put in at knitting group, she managed to get her first sleeve up to the underarm. On to sleeve 2!

Ball check!

And Steph has a new project. Yes, a lovely new project indeed:

Meet Annabelle’s Extra Yarn (pattern by Laura Linneman; yarn is Gynx BFL Sock in the Extra colorway). If you saw the last couple of episodes, you know that Anne from Little Skein in the Big Wool is selling a kit that celebrates the children’s book “Extra Yarn”. We were lucky enough to be gifted with the kit and Steph is knitting the pattern and is loving it. It is so fun! It is knit toe up and the slipped stitches mimic tree branches. The socks are mirrored, so there are separate charts for the left and for the right sock. There are also separate charts for each of the various sizes, from a children’s to an adult large. And while the instructions include a cable needle, Steph is instead using a different technique to do the twists. As usual, Steph split her yarn into two cakes and is knitting both socks at relatively the same time on her DPNs.

And last, Steph finished her “Stolen Swocks“, or rather, she finished Stacie’s socks. A few episodes ago, Stacie was knitting with her own hand dyed yarn to make a swatch to show how the stripes knit up. Steph then swooped in and STOLE THEM (actually, Stacie just gave them to her) and turned the swatch into a sock. Since Stacie so rarely gets to knit and wear her own hand dyed yarn, Steph decided to gift the socks to Stacie. And what lovely socks they are:

They are just plain vanilla socks knit out of Must Stash Yarn & Fiber Ritz sock in the Night @ the Roxbury colorway. The legs are stockinette, the foot has a 2×1 ribbing on top, and the heels are afterthought heels.

As for Stacie, she had a very busy week at work (both her day job and her dyeing job), and all her limited knitting time was spent working on Secret Knitting. Or maybe we should say “secret but we’ll tease you a little” knitting. Stacie is working on a collaboration with Mel of Single Handed Knits and she has been busy dying yarn and knitting up swatches. Each yarn and swatch is like a happy little jewel — works of art in their own right. Stacie wishes she could say more about this collaboration right now, but over the next couple of weeks, more and more will be revealed. For now feast your eyes on the color choices.

And what about the spinning? Spinzilla may have kicked our butts, but there was still a bit of spinning going on. Last time, Steph briefly mentioned that she ordered a blending board. While she waits for the board to come in, she decided to get started with some hand cards. Stacie graciously lent her hand cards and
Steph used them, plus leftovers from this batt, to make a few rolags.

Rather than use the carders themselves to make a traditional rolag, she practiced with some dowels since that’s the technique you use on blending boards. While her rolags were fairly tidy, they were far from perfect. But not bad for a first try.

As for other business, don’t forget that our Rhinebeck or Bust KAL will be ending October 31. We will close the FO thread sometime on November 1, so make sure to get your pictures in! If all goes well, and technology is acquiescent, we will be recording on November 1 and conducting our prize drawing at that time. Remember, we have 3 prizes to give away: a lovely bag from Unic Designs, 2 skeins of Squoosh yarn donated by a lovely Anonymous Stasher, and 1 skein of Gnome Acres sock yarn, also donated by an Anonymous Stasher.

Our Handspun KAL will also be officially ending October 31 and this is one KAL we will be sad to see end. Since there are no prize drawings for this one, we won’t lock the thread. Be sure to show off all your beautiful handspun FOs so we can ooooh and aaaah over how clever you are, you talented spinner and knitter.

As for what’s coming up, if you’re going to be in our area November 8-10, come check out Kid ‘N Ewe and Llamas too, which is a local fiber festival. Stacie and Steph will be there at least one of those days. We’ll be sure to mention in the Ravelry group approximately what day and time, so any locals can keep an eye out for us. Come say “Hi” if you’ll be there!

That should wrap it up for this “episode”. Keep your fingers crossed that we have no obstacles to overcome next time.

I was wondering about you Women! I so understand all the craziness! My youngest (2 1/2) had a fever of 104 Friday we though it was the same fever virus our 6 year old had last week …. until he started having a hard time breathing and then started baring like a seal…. needless to say Sat night was spent in a hospital getting breathing treatments ALL night long… Its the time of the year though constant bugs/virus knocking at the door running us down and then throw in all the stress from the “other” parts of life. I hope the baby is better and I hope it doesn’t spread in the house…. prayers and hugs to you all and may your week/weekend go smother 🙂

Sounds like you had a rough time! It is so stressful when a little one is sick. Thank you for the warm wishes of health for the family and the computer. I hope your family is all healthy and having a great week & Happy Halloween!